UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men's basketball closes out the 2018 portion of its schedule with a final nonconference home game against UMBC on Saturday, Dec. 29 at the Bryce Jordan Center. The Nittany Lions and Retrievers will tip off at 1 p.m. ET. The game will be available via online stream at BTN2go.com (provider login or subscription required).
UMBC became the first No. 16 seed in NCAA Tournament history – and 136 attempts - to defeat a No. 1 seed when the Retrievers defeated Virginia last March.
Penn State and UMBC have met only three times previously with PSU holding a 3-0 series lead. The last meeting took place in the BJC on Dec. 8, 2009 and the two prior contests were part of a home-and-home series during the 1991-92 season when Penn State competed as an independent.
Coach Patrick Chambers faced UMBC during his two years as head coach of the Boston U. Terriers with a 3-1 mark against the Retrievers.
TICKETS: GoPSUSsports.com, call 1-800-NITTANY or visit the Penn State Athletics Ticket Office at the Bryce Jordan Center beginning three hours before tipoff on gameday.
WATCH: BTN+
STREAM: BTN2go.com (subscription)
LISTEN: Penn State Sports Network
Steve Jones (pxp) & Dick Jerardi (analyst)
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Online: GoPSUsports.com/lionvision
XM 382 | Internet 973
DIGITAL PROGRAM: UMBC at Penn State
LIVE STATS: UMBC at Penn State
SOCIAL: Twitter @PennStateMBB & @Coach_Chambers | Facebook | Instagram @PennStateMBB.
ROSTER: Penn State | UMBC
SCHEDULE: Penn State | UMBC
STATS: Penn State | UMBC
GAME NOTES: Penn State | UMBC
MEDIA GUIDE: Penn State | UMBC
UMBC RETRIEVERS
Coach: Ryan Odom (Hampden-Sydney, 1996)
UMBC Record: 53-30 (3rd season)
Career Record: 82-51 (5th season)
2018-19 Record: 7-6, 0-0 America East
2018-19 Leading Scorer
#13 Joe Sherburne, Gr., F – 14.0 ppg
2018-19 Leading Rebounder
#12 Brandon Horvath, So., F – 5.7 rpg
2018-19 Assists Leader
#3 K.J. Jackson, Jr., G – 4.4 apg
PENN STATE NITTANY LIONS
Coach: Patrick Chambers (Philadelphia, 1994)
Penn State Record: 119-128 (8th season)
Career Record: 161-156 (10th season)
2018-19 Leading Scorer:
#11 Lamar Stevens, Jr., F - 19.1 ppg
2018-19 Leading Rebounder:
#11 Lamar Stevens, Jr., F - 8.3 rpg
2018-19 Assists Leader:
#23 Josh Reaves, Sr., G - 3.3 apg
PENN STATE STARTERS (LAST GAME)
F -- 11 -- Lamar Stevens – Jr. | 2018-19 ppg: 19.1 | rpg: 8.3
Note: No. 4 scoring average in the Big Ten; owns current streak of 19 dbl-figure scoring games
F -- 24 – Mike Watkins – R-Jr. | 2018-19 ppg: 6.4 | rpg: 7.1
Note: Shooting 58.8 from field in home games; season-high 26 min at Duq w/12 reb, 11 in 2H
G – 5 – Jamari Wheeler -- So. | 2018-19 ppg: 3.9 | rpg: 3.6
Note: Set freshman record for steals with 52; ranks second on team with 23 assists and 16 stls; had 8 pts, 2 assists and 2 steals at Duq
G – 13 – Rasir Bolton -- Fr. | 2018-19 ppg: 13.8 | rpg: 2.5
Note: Has 9 double-figure scoring games in 18-19; averages 18.6 ppg in home games with 50% field goal percentage
G – 23 -- Josh Reaves -- Sr. | 2018-19 ppg: 10.1 | rpg: 5.3
Note: Two-time Big Ten steals leader currently leading league in total steals and steals per game; ranks fifth on NCAA active career list with 203 total
SERIES RECORD vs. UMBC
The last meeting between Penn State and UMBC took place on Dec. 8, 2009 in the only contest between the two teams in the Bryce Jordan Center.
Prior to that 2009 contest, the two teams played a home-and-home series during the 1991-92 season when Penn State competed as an independent prior to joining the Big Ten in 1992-93.
Series streak: Penn State, W3
Last game: PSU 58, UMBC 42, 12/08/09
Overall series: Penn State leads 3-0
at University Park: PSU leads 2-0
at Bryce Jordan Center: PSU leads 1-0
Chambers vs. UMBC: 3-1 (all while at Boston U.)
STARTING 5
Penn State, ranked 10th for its overall strength of schedule by CBS Sports, is currently the only Big Ten program represented in the top 10. The Nittany Lions' nonconference schedule is ranked No. 15, highest in the Big Ten.
The Nittany Lions and Retrievers have played only three times previously with the last meeting on Dec. 8, 2009. As the Boston U. head coach, Patrick Chambers was 3-1 against UMBC.
With 203 career steals, Josh Reaves needs 16 more to pass Titus Ivory for third on PSU's career list and enter the Big Ten's career top 10 chart.
Junior forward and Julius Erving Award candidate Lamar Stevens has scored in double figures in every game this season, and has five double-doubles and six games with 20 or more points in 2018-19.
Guard Rasir Bolton is tied for No. 31 nationally in free throw percentage at 89.1, the second-highest percentage among all NCAA Div. I freshmen.
SECOND-HALF COMEBACK STALLS AT ALABAMA
In a game of runs, Alabama came out on top with a 73-64 win at Coleman Coliseum. Trent Buttrick posted a career-best 13 points, going a perfect 5-5 from the field and 3-3 from beyond the arc, to lead Penn State.
Lamar Stevens finished the night with 12 points while Alabama native Myreon Jones had 11 points, nine in the second stanza, with a career-best three assists.
Big plays on defense, including a charge taken by Josh Reaves, helped the Nittany Lions keep the Tide without a field goal for four and a half minutes from 13:42 to 9:16 as Jones sparked a 14-2 run with seven points to tie the score at 49 in the second half.
The lead changed hands five times over the next two minutes with a layup and 3-pointer by Buttrick and a Stevens layup giving the Nittany Lions a 54-53 lead with just less than eight minutes to play. A Stevens' dunk put Penn State within one, 57-56, but Donta Hall scored six-straight points to put the Tide up 63-58 at the 5:04 mark.
Penn State cut the deficit to three points after a big steal by Buttrick and two free throws by Jones, but Alabama got baskets from Dazon Ingram and Kira Lewis Jr and added four free throws in the final two minutes for the final outcome.
Penn State took a 23-13 lead, but Alabama stormed back with a 20-4 run to take a 33-27 lead into halftime, using a 24-8 advantage in the paint as Mike Watkins picked up two fouls early in the period. The Tide ended the first half going 8-10 from the field and shot 56 percent in the second half.
Hall scored 17 points and had 11 rebounds to lead the Crimson Tide. Mack and John Petty, Jr., both scored in double figures with Petty at 13 and Mack at 11 points.
BY THE NUMBERS
3 – Millions of dollars raised (net) by Coaches vs. Cancer-Penn State since the organization was launched in 1995.
4 – The Nittany Lions limited Duquesne to only four field goals in the second half of the 73-67 victory, an opponent low reached four times in the Chambers era at Penn State (2H-3x, 1H-1x).
8.6 – Penn State leads the Big Ten in steals per game for all games and tops the chart for conference contests with back-to-back 12-steal games at Maryland and vs. Indiana.
91 – Number of 3-point field goals with freshmen Rasir Bolton (27) and Myles Dread (23) holding the top two individual totals. The record-setting 2017-18 team had 77 after 12 games.
203 – With 203 career steals, Josh Reaves needs 16 more to pass Titus Ivory for third on the Penn State career list and ninth on the Big Ten career list.
575 – Redshirt junior Mike Watkins has 575 career rebounds, currently 23rd on the Penn State chart. Only 20 Nittany Lions have collected more than 600.
$22,095 – Net funds raised for the American Red Cross Hurricane Relief Fund by Penn State and West Virginia from exhibition game ticket sales and donations from fans.
